Brackets you can make for your JK from the left-over OEM bumper
02-10-2013, 03:11 PM
#1
JK Freak
Thread Starter
Brackets you can make for your JK from the left-over OEM bumper
The men of the world generally fall into two categories; 1) those that pay others to do repairs or make things; and 2) those that do it themselves.
Clearly, anyone who reads this forum falls into the 2nd category.
With that in mind, I thought I'd share some photos of things that I made for my '12 JKUR out of the metal OEM front bumper.
When I took it off, I knew that I didn't want to just toss it; there was lots of steel of a thickness that could be worked into other things.
Over the past months, I've made assorted brackets using the steel, and here are the photos showing you what I came up with.
The first thing was mounting brackets for a hi-lift jack. I knew that I didn't want to store the jack on the outside of the vehicle because I live on the coast and things rust pretty quickly. I bought a couple of exhaust pipe U-shaped brackets and then cut some of the steel to form the brackets to actually hold the jack. The first photo is of the finished product, that also shows my shovel attached (more on that later). It's located just high enough for storage underneath without blocking my view with the rear view mirror.
The next photo is of the right-hand side bracket. The two exhaust bracket bolts just happen to fit through the holes in the base of the jack; no drilling needed.
The next photo is of the left hand side. This piece of steel didn't come from the OEM bumper, but was left over from my Warn winch fairlead brackets. I needed the extra thickness to support the weight of the jack. The width fits the channel of the jack column, so it doesn't move around at all.
Then I made brackets to hold the shovel, shown in the next photo. You'll recognize the rubber fist clamps.
I had seen molle rack storage brackets for the wheel wells on another forum. I liked the look of the brackets, but wasn't into the whole molle pack thing. I wanted storage behind the bracket. So using metal from the bumper, I made the longer brackets connecting the top to the side of the JK roof, and also two brackets on each end of the molle bracket to keep things from sliding out from behind the bracket (just to be clear, the front of the bracket with the "Jeep" logo was purchased on e-bay). This worked pretty well. Now I have my 12v air pump on one side and recovery gear on the other side.
Clearly, anyone who reads this forum falls into the 2nd category.
With that in mind, I thought I'd share some photos of things that I made for my '12 JKUR out of the metal OEM front bumper.
When I took it off, I knew that I didn't want to just toss it; there was lots of steel of a thickness that could be worked into other things.
Over the past months, I've made assorted brackets using the steel, and here are the photos showing you what I came up with.
The first thing was mounting brackets for a hi-lift jack. I knew that I didn't want to store the jack on the outside of the vehicle because I live on the coast and things rust pretty quickly. I bought a couple of exhaust pipe U-shaped brackets and then cut some of the steel to form the brackets to actually hold the jack. The first photo is of the finished product, that also shows my shovel attached (more on that later). It's located just high enough for storage underneath without blocking my view with the rear view mirror.
The next photo is of the right-hand side bracket. The two exhaust bracket bolts just happen to fit through the holes in the base of the jack; no drilling needed.
The next photo is of the left hand side. This piece of steel didn't come from the OEM bumper, but was left over from my Warn winch fairlead brackets. I needed the extra thickness to support the weight of the jack. The width fits the channel of the jack column, so it doesn't move around at all.
Then I made brackets to hold the shovel, shown in the next photo. You'll recognize the rubber fist clamps.
I had seen molle rack storage brackets for the wheel wells on another forum. I liked the look of the brackets, but wasn't into the whole molle pack thing. I wanted storage behind the bracket. So using metal from the bumper, I made the longer brackets connecting the top to the side of the JK roof, and also two brackets on each end of the molle bracket to keep things from sliding out from behind the bracket (just to be clear, the front of the bracket with the "Jeep" logo was purchased on e-bay). This worked pretty well. Now I have my 12v air pump on one side and recovery gear on the other side.
Last edited by Grand Umpah; 02-10-2013 at 06:43 PM.
02-10-2013, 03:12 PM
#2
JK Freak
Thread Starter
One more item!
Didn't have space on the OP
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I had a beer opener that I really wanted to mount on the bumper, but finally decided that I didn't want to give law enforcement "probable cause" to stop me on a whim. So I tried a number of interior locations, and finally came up with mounting it on the left rear door bracket. Yes, it is fully functional. Now time to go Jeepin'!
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I had a beer opener that I really wanted to mount on the bumper, but finally decided that I didn't want to give law enforcement "probable cause" to stop me on a whim. So I tried a number of interior locations, and finally came up with mounting it on the left rear door bracket. Yes, it is fully functional. Now time to go Jeepin'!
